Accounts and Accountability
by testudoaubreii1806
Summary: Virginia Potts thinks she's taken all that auditing can throw at her, that is, until she meets a certain CEO. Set before IM1.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is my first fic, so go easy on me please! Hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction and is not for profit. I don't own Tony, Pepper, Obadiah Stane, or Stark Industries. I have also used a certain amount of artistic licence with regards to the audit in case any one was checking!

**Accounts and Accountability**

**Chapter 1**

Virginia Potts was looking forward to her first day working on the audit of Stark Industries as she drove into work that morning. It was the first audit of a listed company she had taken in charge of and she was looking forward to the challenge. There was the slight issue that the company had been missing a financial controller for the past few months, but she was hopeful that wouldn't cause too much of a problem as the finance director should still be able to provide the information they needed for the audit.

Virginia had been working as an accountant for the five years since she left college and had qualified two years ago. She wasn't sure she would always want to be an auditor, but for now that was what she was happy doing. She liked the satisfaction of inspecting a company's accounts to make sure they were accurate and she enjoyed meeting all the different people involved in the audit too.

There was something exciting about finally getting to work on the audit of Stark Industries. Not only was it her first listed company, but she couldn't deny that the fact that Tony Stark was the CEO was kind of alluring. Not that she'd actually get to meet him. He'd probably be flying off in his private jet, going to parties and taking part in other similar activities. He was well known for his playboy lifestyle.

Virginia pulled up in the parking lot and walked into the Stradbroke & Co's offices, greeting the receptionist as she went in. Virginia had joined Stradbroke & Co's graduate scheme when she left college and had worked there ever since. Their offices were a spacious modern open-plan building on the edge of Malibu, close enough to walk to the beach at lunch time.

As Virginia headed over to her desk, Arthur Stradbroke himself stepped out of his office and came over to talk to her.

"Virginia, I'm glad you're here. I've just had a call from Stark Industries and we've got a slight problem: their finance director has just left without notice. Apparently he decided to leave his wife and run away with another employee, so he won't be coming back."

"Oh wow," replied Virginia, a little stunned for a moment. "I didn't realise things like that still happened. It's like something out of a novel."

"Yes, I know. Best keep it quiet though as they don't want it getting to the press."

Virginia agreed and Mr Stradbroke continued, "Anyway it was Obadiah Stane who phoned to tell me this, he's the chief operations officer, and he says that Tony Stark himself has agreed to be our main contact for the audit."

Virginia was even more stunned at that. Maybe she would get to meet the famous Tony Stark after all.

"Oh, okay-" she began.

"Yes, I know. I was surprised too, but I suppose as CEO he must know the most about the company overall. Let's just hope he understands what the finance director and financial controller have been up to with the figures. Anyway, I'll leave you to get on now and I'll forward you the information Mr Stane has given me. Oh, and I've arranged the planning meeting for next Monday and Mr Stane assured me Mr Stark would be there."

As a result of this it was with something more like trepidation that Virginia sat down to begin working through the planning section of the audit file.

* * *

><p>Around ten o'clock Miles Terling, the manager of the Stark Industries audit, arrived in the office. Virginia had quite a low opinion of Miles's ability as a manager as he was disorganised and delegated most of his work to junior members of staff. But on the other hand this did mean she was free to get on with her work in the way she wanted without him bothering her and as long as she got it done it wasn't a problem.<p>

Virginia soon went over to speak to Miles to arrange a briefing with him. Although she was fairly sure she already knew a lot more about Stark Industries than him, it was worth confirming the team and timings of the audit with him.

"So, Virginia. Glad to see you've already started the planning on Stark Industries."

Virginia suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. The audits would never get done if she waited for him to tell her what to do.

"Yes. I thought we could just have a quick briefing to confirm the arrangements for the audit. Oh and I don't know if Mr Stradbroke has told you yet, but the finance director has left, so Tony Stark is going to be our main contact."

"Oh really? Well I'm sure you'll deal with that just fine, Virginia. Just make sure he doesn't get too friendly with you if you know what I mean. You're an attractive young woman."

"Yes, sir." Virginia cringed inwardly, but sometimes it was just best to agree with Miles. "Mr Stradbroke has also arranged the planning meeting for Monday, so I'll get an agenda ready for that and email a copy across to Mr Stark."

"Excellent."

"We then have two days on-site planning on Wednesday and Thursday and two weeks fieldwork from the 20th. For the team I have Warren for on-site planning and then Warren, Zia and Jason for the fieldwork. I'm not sure if that's going to be enough if we overrun, so I've booked Zia for the next week as well as she was free. I hope that's okay with you."

"Fine."

"I think that's everything. Is there anything else I should know?"

"Sound's like you've got it all covered, Virginia."

Virginia had nothing against her name, but she wished Miles would not use it quite so often. Sometimes it just got creepy.

Somewhat pointless briefing over, Virginia returned to her desk and continued to work through the audit file.

* * *

><p>"Virginia!"<p>

Virginia looked up to see Zia rushing over to her.

"Is it true that Tony Stark is going to be our main contact for Stark Industries?"

"Yes, the finance director has left, so Mr Stark has agreed to step in."

Zia was almost jumping up and down with excitement.

"I can't believe we actually get to meet him. I mean being on the audit is one thing, but actually meeting Tony Stark! Did you see him on the cover of Rolling Stone last week? He looked so hot." She paused. "You will let me speak to him won't you?" Zia asked, suddenly worried.

Virginia laughed. "Just as long as you don't act like that around him."

"Don't worry," Zia said, putting on a serious face. "I will be one hundred percent professional." She grinned and as she ran off to tell the rest of the audit team the good news, Virginia was sure she could hear her muttering "Tony Stark, Tony Stark, Tony Stark," under her breath.

Zia could be a bit excitable at times, but she worked hard and Virginia was looking forward to having her on the audit team.

* * *

><p>The rest of the week passed quickly with Virginia planning the Stark Industries audit and also finishing off the previous audit she was working on. Luckily her workload wasn't too bad so she was able to enjoy her weekend visiting a friend from college in Santa Barbara without feeling guilty about not doing any work.<p>

As always Monday came round again too quickly and Virginia headed into the office early to prepare for the planning meeting. The meeting was at eleven and she wanted to run through the agenda with Miles before they travelled over to the Stark Industries head office in Malibu. After being sidetracked by a couple of people wanting her to help out with problems on other audits, Virginia finally managed to print out the agenda and talk through it with Miles.

"Right, so first I was going to ask for a general update on the company and find out if there's been any major changes we should be aware of. Other than the fact that they don't have an finance director or financial controller at the moment of course, but I've looked at last year's file and we didn't have any major issues then, so I'm hoping we won't have a problem figuring out what's been going on this year. I am still slightly concerned however; it's such a large company to go with out a financial controller for so long."

"I'm sure you'll work it out, Virginia."

_Yes, _she thought, _I'm sure I will, but it might take up all my evenings to do so! _Out loud she said, "Yes, so next I was going to cover the standard questions about fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, etcetera, and then just run through the arrangements for the audit. Is there anything you want to add?"

"No, that sounds like everything."

"I've drafted an arrangement letter to take with us listing all the information we will need to see for the audit if you want to just check you're happy with that."

Virginia handed him the letter and went back to her desk to check the route they were going to take to Stark Industries.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, favourites and follows!

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction and is not for profit. I don't own Tony, Pepper, Obadiah Stane, or Stark Industries. I have also used a certain amount of artistic licence with regards to the audit.

**Chapter 2**

As Tony Stark rolled up outside Stark Industries at 11:20am on Monday morning in his brand new Audi convertible he hoped the audit planning meeting wouldn't take too long. He was feeling rather pleased with himself as he was only twenty minutes late and he hadn't even had a personal assistant to remind him, but he wanted to get back to the project he was busy with in his workshop. He had only agreed to be the main contact for the audit as Obie has guilt tripped him into it. Apparently it was his fault that his personal assistant had run off with the finance director. But really, he'd never promised her more than one night and how was he to know she would then go on a rebound relationship with the FD?

Tony parked his car and headed in past reception. The Stark Industries head office was just one part of a huge complex of state of the art research and development and production facilities on the south side of Malibu. The site was originally founded by Tony's father, Howard Stark, and had been growing ever since.

"Morning, Ann," said Tony and flashed a smile at the receptionist. She was actually nearly twice his age, but there was nothing wrong with being friendly.

"Good morning, Mr Stark," replied the receptionist. "Mr Terling and Ms Potts from Stradbroke & Co are waiting for you in the board room." She added with only the tiniest hint of reproof.

Tony continued upstairs and along the corridor which held all the meeting rooms. As he walked towards the entrance to the board room he caught a glimpse of a pretty red-haired young woman through the glass panelling. Maybe this audit wasn't going to be so bad after all.

* * *

><p>Virginia Potts sat in the board room awkwardly trying to make small talk with Miles while they waited for Tony Stark to arrive. They had arrived at just before eleven and had been shown up to the board room as Mr Stark was "not yet ready to see them". The receptionist had offered them coffee and said he wouldn't be long, but fifteen minutes later Virginia was starting to get impatient.<p>

"I suppose we should have expected him to be late really," she said trying to keep them from falling into an awkward silence. She was just starting to read through the agenda again when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye and looked up to see a well dressed man with dark hair and a goatee walk along the corridor to the entrance of the board room.

"That must be him," muttered Miles and they stood up to greet Mr Stark.

"Hey, you must be Mr Terling and Ms Potts. Pleased to meet you," said Tony as he entered the room, walking over to shake their hands.

Ignoring the fact that Mr Stark seemed to keep hold of her hand just longer than was strictly necessary, Virginia replied, "Pleased to meet you too, Mr Stark."

Tony indicated for them to sit down, placing himself opposite Ms Potts. "How can I help you?"

"Did you get the copy of the agenda I sent you?" Virginia asked.

Mr Stark looked blank so Virginia moved quickly on and passed him a copy of the agenda she had printed.

"So first I thought we could have an update on the company and discuss any major changes there have been this year."

"Okay," Mr Stark paused as if waiting for something. "Oh, you want _me _to tell you?"

"Yes, please," Virginia said patiently.

"Um, well, we've renewed our contract with the Government, they've just placed an order for a load of the new missiles we've developed. We uh- wow, can you do shorthand?"

"Oh, yes," said Virginia looking up from the notes she was taking.

"I have always wanted to be able to do that. What's that symbol mean?"

"Um, 'therefore'," responded Virginia, slightly thrown by the change of subject. "So you've had a good year overall then?" she asked, trying to get them back on topic as Mr Stark was now staring with fascination at her notes.

"Honey, every year is a good year. We make weapons, the Government buys them and the bucks keep rolling in."

Wondering how she could reword that for the audit file, Virginia continued, "Mr Stane sent us a copy of the draft accounts that Bentwater & Co have prepared and I see you've carried out a share issue. Was that to lower the company's share price?"

"I guess."

"Right. So have there been any other major changes in the business during the year or is there anything else we should be aware of?"

"Not that I can think of. Unless you count my personal assistant running off with the finance director. I must say I was expecting her to last a little longer." He looked wistfully at the ceiling.

Virginia exchanged a glance with Miles and she started to wonder why Mr Stark had agreed to be the contact for the audit when the detailed finances of his company didn't seem to hold much interest for him.

"How is the recruitment of a new financial controller going? And have you started looking for a new finance director yet?"

"Ah, Obie's working on that one. He can give you an update."

"I heard in the news earlier in the year that there had been a batch of missiles which malfunctioned and that there was going to be a legal case against the company; has there been any progress with that?"

"Well, for the record, it wasn't our fault; I tested everything myself. The case is still ongoing, but we have kick-ass lawyers, so we hope to win it."

"Okay, we'll need to see any correspondence you've had with your lawyers when we get to fieldwork then, please." Checking the agenda, Virginia continued, "What would you say are the key business risks for the company?"

"World peace, because then no-one will want to buy any of our weapons. However they may still want deterrents and we have other non-military product lines, so I think we'd still do okay."

Virginia continued to scribble down notes despite Mr Stark's responses being rather unconventional, and Miles picked up the conversation, deciding he should at least have some input to the meeting.

"Next we just need to ask you some standard questions we are required to ask by the auditing regulations. Are you aware of any non-compliance with laws or regulations during the year?"

"I got a parking ticket last week, if that's what you mean?"

"We mean in relation to the company, Mr Stark," Virginia explained.

"Oh, no then."

"Are you aware of any actual or suspected fraud at the company during the year?" continued Miles.

"Uh - no."

"How high do you think the risk of fraud is?

"Low?" guessed Tony, starting to feel like he was at an interrogation.

Aware he was now just giving them the answers they wanted to hear, Virginia tried a different tack.

"How have you and the other directors satisfied yourselves that the company is a going concern?"

"Well, there must have been a board meeting last week and I don't think any problems came out of that."

_He doesn't attend his own board meetings?_

"Have you got a cash flow forecast for the next year?" Virginia persevered.

"Let me see, more money in than out?" Tony said, trying to be funny, but he only received a stony look from Ms Potts. Annoyed that his attempt at humour failed, Tony rather rudely asked, "Are we done yet, because I really need to get back to my workshop?"

"No, we are not 'done' yet," replied Virginia sharply, feeling that Mr Stark had thrown down the gauntlet now. "We still need to go through the rest of the arrangements for the audit."

"Fine. But I do have other important duties to attend to as CEO, you know."

Virginia gave him a slightly sceptical look and continued, "We will be out on-site for planning Wednesday and Thursday of this week, if you could make sure there will be somewhere for us to sit please. That will be me and one of our trainees. We will then be back for fieldwork for two weeks from 20th."

Forgetting that Mr Terling was still in the room and liking the fiery side of Ms Potts he had just uncovered, Tony suggested they go out for dinner one of the nights of the audit. Virginia's eyes flashed but she only said, "I'm sure the rest of the audit team will really enjoy a meal out at one of Malibu's finest restaurants."

_Touch__é, Ms Potts._

"Here is an arrangement letter listing all the information we will need to see for the audit, so please make sure it is ready." Virginia held out the envelope to him but Mr Stark made no move to take it.

"Uh, I don't like being handed things." That earned him another glare and he reluctantly took the letter.

"Are there any days of the audit when you will not be available?"

"For you, Ms Potts, I can be around _any_ time you like," and he raised his eyebrows.

"Excellent. That will be 9am on Wednesday morning for on-site planning then."

"I look forward to it."

Virginia checked her agenda and looking up she said, "Well, Mr Stark, you will be pleased to know that that is everything now, so you are free to return to whichever one of your important duties as CEO prevented you from being on time this morning."

_Ouch. _But Tony couldn't deny he was beginning to like Ms Potts.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks again for the reviews, favourites and follows!

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction and is not for profit. I don't own Tony, Pepper, Obadiah Stane, or Stark Industries. I have also used a certain amount of artistic licence with regards to the audit.

**Chapter 3  
><strong>

"Well that wasn't too bad," said Miles on the way back to Stradbroke & Co's offices.

"Really?" Virginia replied, "I'm starting to wonder how we're going to get this audit done at all; Mr Stark doesn't seem to know much about the finances. I suppose we'll just have to rely on the staff in the accounts department."

"Oh, I think it will be all right. If you can't do it, Virginia, no-one can."

Virginia wished she had as much faith in herself as Miles did. Returning to the office she wrote up the planning meeting and briefed Warren in preparation for on-site planning later in the week. At lunchtime she bumped into Zia in the kitchen, heating up her lunch in the microwave.

"Did you have the Stark Industries planning meeting this morning, Virginia?"

"Yes-"

"What was he like then?" Zia eagerly interrupted.

"Who?" Virginia teased.

"Oh, you know who I mean!"

"Well, in some ways he was exactly how he comes across in the media, but in other ways he was much more down to earth."

"Did he try to chat you up?"

"He did ask me out to dinner actually, but-"

"What's this?" asked Arthur Stradbroke, arriving in the kitchen and joining the conversation with interest. "Is this Tony Stark you're talking about?"

"Yes, but don't worry, sir, I told him that I was sure the audit team would love a dinner out in Malibu."

Mr Stradbroke laughed and said, "I don't think you'll have any problems dealing with Mr Stark on this audit."

"Oh, I can't wait to meet him. I wish I was doing on-site planning," complained Zia.

"Fieldwork will come round soon enough, I'm sure," Virginia said.

Mr Stradbroke left the kitchen having got his lunch from the fridge and Zia whispered conspiratorially, "Was he just as good-looking in real life?"

"Better." Laughing at the look on Zia's face, Virginia grabbed her lunch from the fridge and left the kitchen.

* * *

><p>Wednesday looked like it was going to be a typical sunny Malibu day as Virginia and Warren arrived at Stark Industries in the morning. Warren was a new graduate trainee at Stradbroke &amp; Co and would be helping Virginia with the more straightforward parts of planning the audit. Virginia herself would be dealing with the more contentious areas of the file and trying to obtain answers to the questions Mr Stark had provide less than satisfactory responses to on Monday.<p>

However, she had to admit that when she had read through the latest management reports she had obtained the previous evening, it appeared that although the information Mr Stark had given them was somewhat lacking in detail, it was generally accurate.

Virginia and Warren signed in at reception and finding that Mr Stark was "not yet ready to see them" Virginia asked to be shown straight up to the finance department. It was not much of a surprise that the finance department was not expecting them, but Virginia soon identified the manager currently acting as head of the department and explained what they needed to do.

The manager, Ethan Knight, actually turned out to be very helpful and to have a good understanding of the finances of the company, so Virginia was able to obtain a lot of the explanations she needed from him. However there were some areas where he was not senior enough in the company to know the answers, therefore around eleven o'clock Virginia returned to reception to find out if Mr Stark was 'ready' yet.

"To be perfectly honest with you, Ms Potts, he's not actually arrived at the offices yet today," the receptionist said. "He's a very busy man and without a personal assistant it might have slipped his mind that he had a meeting with you this morning. Do you want me to call him for you?"

However there was no reply from either Mr Stark's home phone or cell phone, so Virginia had to admit defeat there. But all was not lost as chatting with the receptionist at the end of the day she managed to obtain a print out of Mr Stark's schedule for the next two weeks with a promise of updates, so she at least knew when he was definitely not going to be available.

The second day of on-site planning continued in a similar fashion, with still no sign of Mr Stark. By three o'clock Virginia was getting rather frustrated as she had been reviewing the draft figures ready for the audit team discussion with Mr Stradbroke and Miles the next day, but was still without explanations for movements in several important areas. According to Ethan these were areas that the finance director mainly dealt with and he didn't know why they had moved. Hoping that one of the other directors might know Virginia asked for directions to Obadiah Stane's office. Although she had not yet met Mr Stane, he was the director who had emailed them the draft accounts so she hoped he might be able to provide her with some explanations.

Mr Stane was just leaving his office as Virginia arrived, but she introduced herself and asked if he might be free to answer some questions that afternoon.

"Ah, pleased to meet you, Ms Potts. I was just going to get myself a coffee, but then I will be available. Can I get you anything?"

"Oh no, it's fine thank you. I have some water back in finance."

"Sure. Take a seat and I will be back shortly."

Virginia sat down in one of the chairs in front of Mr Stane's desk and sneaked a look round his office while she waited for him. It was fairly modern, but panelled with wood and there were several photos on the walls. She was just looking at a black and white one of two men and a teenager smiling next to a classic car when Mr Stane reappeared.

"Ah, that was just after Howard had bought the old Ford hot rod. As far as I know Tony is still working on the restoration." Mr Stane came and sat down at his desk. "So how can I help you, Ms Potts?"

"Well, I've actually been trying to get hold of Mr Stark over the last couple of days to ask him some questions for the audit, but no-one seems to know where he is."

"Ah, up to his old tricks again, is he? Don't worry I'll tell him to get his ass down here for the fieldwork."

"Thank you. He seems rather elusive." She paused but then continued, "However I was hoping you might be able to help me with a few questions now please, as I have some which can't really wait until fieldwork and no-one in the finance department was able to help me."

"I'll do my best. Doesn't do to upset the auditors!" He smiled at her and took a sip of his coffee.

Virginia returned his smile and began working through her questions and again she wondered why Mr Stark had been chosen as the main contact when Mr Stane seemed to have a much better and more detailed understanding of the company's finances.

The team discussion was held at the Stradbroke & Co offices the next day. The meeting gave the members of the audit team an opportunity to discuss the findings from the planning stage and to consider where they would need to concentrate their testing at fieldwork. As usual Miles did not make much of a contribution to the discussion, preferring Virginia to take the lead and then wait for Mr Stradbroke to agree or add any of his own comments. This suited Virginia fine however and gave her the opportunity to confirm any areas she was unsure of with Mr Stradbroke.

At the end of the meeting Mr Stradbroke held her back after Miles had left. "How did you find dealing with Mr Stark, Virginia?"

"Well he didn't actually turn up for on-site planning, so I ended up speaking to Obadiah Stane instead to get the information I needed. However he has assured me that Mr Stark will be there for fieldwork."

"Hmm. Well if you have any further problems, you let me know and I can always give them a ring myself."

"Thank you, sir," she replied politely, but with no intention of taking him up on his offer; Mr Stark, she felt, was someone best dealt with on her own.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thanks to everyone who's reading and reviewing! It's much appreciated.

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction and is not for profit. I don't own Tony, Pepper, Obadiah Stane, or Stark Industries. I have also used a certain amount of artistic licence with regards to the audit.

**Chapter 4  
><strong>

On the first day of fieldwork Virginia met the other members of the audit team in the parking lot at Stark Industries before going inside. To her surprise they were expected and were shown upstairs to a spare office near the finance department which had been made ready for them.

"You're late, Ms Potts."

"What?" Virginia jumped and turned to see Tony Stark leaning against the door frame.

"Only kidding. Aren't you amazed to see me here? Obadiah told me you'd missed me at planning so I made a special effort to be here this morning for you."

Recovering her composure Virginia replied, "Glad to hear it. If we have any questions is it best to just come and find you in your office?"

Mr Stark looked like he was about to make an inappropriate remark, but Virginia gave him a withering look and he lamely answered "Yeah, it's just down the hall."

"Oh my god," exclaimed Zia as soon as he had left the room. "He totally fancies you!"

"He's Tony Stark, Zia. He fancies everyone," Virginia replied and began to set up her laptop.

Virginia had already allocated the team different sections of the audit file to work on during planning, but she made sure they knew what they were doing and helped them get set up with their testing. Warren and Zia were fairly new to auditing so they required a bit more help with their work, but fortunately Jason was more experienced so he required less of Virginia's time and could also help Warren and Zia when they needed it. It was also fortunate that most of the information Virginia's team would need could be easily obtained from the staff in the finance department, as based on her experience so far, conversations with Mr Stark were not going to be straightforward.

"Virginia, I've picked my sample now," said Warren some time later. Warren had been allocated the property, plant and equipment section of the file and had been picking a sample of items from the accounting records to inspect around the Stark Industries site to confirm that they actually existed.

"Okay," replied Virginia, "We'll go and see Mr Stark now and find out who's best to show you around and if you will need a security pass. Have you got a list ready?"

Warren grabbed his list and they headed over to Mr Stark's office. Virginia knocked and they entered when she heard him yell to 'come in'. However she had only taken two steps into the room before she nearly tripped over a stack of what looked like computer parts near the doorway. Looking around the room Virginia saw that it was panelled with wood like Mr Stane's office, but in contrast it was full to the brim with computer and engineering equipment somewhat haphazardly placed around the room.

Tony was huddled over his desk soldering some electronic components together. Just because Obie had told him he needed to be in the office everyday while the audit was going on, it didn't mean he couldn't continue with what he would have been doing in his workshop anyway. Or bring his whole workshop into the office as he had pretty much ended up doing, he admitted. Unfortunately his 'bots, Dummy and Butterfingers, had had to stay behind as he couldn't get them upstairs to his office without making major modifications to the building, which wasn't really practicable in the time he had. Finishing soldering a transistor he looked up.

"Mr Stark, this is Warren," Virginia explained. "He's picked a sample of items from the non-current asset register and he needs someone to show him where they are so he can physically verify them, please."

Mr Stark got up from his desk and walked over to Virginia, getting far too close for her liking.

"Well, Ms Potts," he said, completely ignoring Warren. "You can physically verify my assets any time you like."

Virginia did her best to ignore his comment and the fact that he was now only about six inches away from her and carried on. "I thought he might need a security pass first, but then perhaps Penelope Watts from finance can show him?"

Tony's face fell and his brow furrowed. Most women would have melted into a puddle on the floor by now, but his suggestion seemed to have no effect on Ms Potts.

"Well, whatever. Why are you asking me if you already know who to speak to?" he said, feeling a bit miffed, and returned to his soldering.

Virginia rolled her eyes at Warren and they went in search of Penelope.

* * *

><p>By eleven o'clock Virginia had built up quite a list of her own questions and felt that she couldn't put off going back to talk to Mr Stark any longer. Warren had asked her if she would do anything about the comment he had made, but she thought it best just to ignore it. Surely he was like that with all women and kicking up a fuss wouldn't help anybody.<p>

This time Tony put his soldering iron down as soon as Virginia entered the room and gave her his full attention. "So how about Thursday night for our date?"

"I'm not sure I'd call taking the audit team out to dinner a date, Mr Stark."

"Oh come on, it would be much more fun if it was just you and me."

"Mr Stark, I don't know if you are aware, but it's very important that an auditor stays independent of their client so that they maintain their integrity and objectivity, therefore it would be impossible for me to go on a date with you even if I wanted to."

Tony bit back another less than appropriate comment and instead said, "You're no fun, Ms Potts."

"I'm your auditor. I'm not meant to be fun."

Tony pretended to look hurt, but unperturbed Virginia proceeded to question him about the progress of the case regarding the malfunctioning missiles.

Mr Stark's knowledge here was no more extensive than any other area of the accounts, although he did seem to have a good idea of what could be done to make the missiles and some other obsolete items saleable. However what truly surprised Virginia was that on reaching her questions regarding the research and development carried out by Stark Industries, she found Mr Stark to be a fountain of knowledge. This was clearly the area he was passionate about and he eagerly told Virginia about all the projects they were currently working on, explaining technical details and showing her printed circuit boards from the heaps around the room.

Trying to stem the flow of integrated circuits, capacitors and LEDs, she asked, "So would you be able to give me a list of all these projects please, splitting them between ones which are currently just research and ones which are being developed and are commercially viable, so I can check they have been treated correctly in the accounts?"

"Uh yeah, sure."

"By Thursday."

"If you come on a date with me."

Virginia glared at him.

"If you and the rest of the audit team will come out to dinner with me on Thursday."

"Mr Stark, we will come for dinner with you, but as part of maintaining good relations with the client, not so that you will provide me with this information. You should be doing that anyway as part of the audit."

"Yes, Ms Potts," he said trying to look innocent, but failing to suppress a smirk. Virginia glared at him again, but he only smirked more.

* * *

><p>The rest of the day and the next proceeded in a similar fashion with the audit team trying to obtain most of their information from the finance department, avoiding speaking to Mr Stark where possible due to his apparent inability to take anything seriously. Zia had finally persuaded Virginia to let her go and speak to Mr Stark on Monday afternoon, but after she returned without the information she went for complaining that he had ignored her completely and had not even tried to flirt with her once, Virginia had decided minimal contact was the best course.<p>

Otherwise the audit was going well, but it was taking some time to decipher a number of the spreadsheets prepared by the finance director. Tuesday evening, therefore, found Virginia still hard at work in the audit room trying to figure out one such spreadsheet.

Happening to look up at about seven o'clock she was surprised to see Mr Stark walking over to the room.

"Hey, Ms Potts." he said, leaning against the door frame.

"Hi," replied Virginia looking up, head still spinning with the finance director's calculations.

Mr Stark walked into the room and started picking up and fiddling with things on the table. "Why're you working late? Don't you have a hot boyfriend to go home to?"

"I am trying to work out this spreadsheet prepared by your finance director before he left. It's supposed to calculate the directors' bonuses, but I just can't get it to add up. I don't suppose you know why?"

Mr Stark walked round and peered at Virginia's laptop screen briefly before replying, "Nope. So do you have a boyfriend?"

"I fail to see why that concerns you, Mr Stark," Virginia said, going back to her spreadsheet.

"I bet you don't. I bet you go home and read romance novels in the bath every night and dream that a hot guy like me will ask you out."

"Mr Stark, first, you've already asked me out and I've said no, so why would I dream about it? And second, do you actually need to speak to me about something because I really do need to figure out this spreadsheet?"

"Hey, I'm just trying to improve auditor-client relations. But actually I have a benefit to attend at seven thirty and couldn't be bothered to go home first."

"So you came to pester me to pass the time?"

Mr Stark shrugged, "You should be pleased."

However Virginia then caught the time on her computer screen, "Hold on, it's already seven o'clock; aren't you going to be late?"

Mr Stark shrugged again, "It's fashionable to be late, Ms Potts," and he carried on fiddling with stuff on her desk.

"Please will you put my calculator down. Don't you think an hour is over doing it a bit? Surely you've got to get changed first and then drive down there–"

"Relax, Ms Potts. I'm have a spare tux in my office and LA doesn't take that long to get to."

"But LA's at least a fifty minute drive and–" Virginia stopped, perhaps thinking she had gone too far and instead said, "Sorry, it's not my place to say. But I really think you should get going."

Mr Stark gave her a mock salute and left. However he had only been gone a few minutes when he popped his head back round the door and said with a barely suppressed grin, "Do you want to come and check that I'm getting changed?" and hurried off again after seeing Virginia's glare.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! They're much appreciated.

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction and is not for profit. I don't own Tony, Pepper, or Stark Industries. I have also used a certain amount of artistic licence with regards to the audit.

**Chapter 5**

When Virginia entered Mr Stark's office the next morning he was bent over in his chair with his head resting on his desk and at first she wondered if he was asleep. She turned to leave, but hearing her Mr Stark looked up. He was rather bleary-eyed and Virginia realised he must have a hangover after the benefit the previous evening.

"Good morning, Mr Stark," she said cheerily.

Mr Stark groaned and put his head back on the desk. Undeterred Virginia walked over to him.

"How was the benefit last night?"

Mr Stark muttered something incoherent and didn't move. Realising it might take more than a cheery attitude to wake him up, Virginia decided to go and make some strong coffee.

Sure enough, as soon as she returned and the rich smell of two espressos wafted into Mr Stark's office he stirred. He still looked rather groggy, but he grabbed the first cup and drank it in one go and then spotting the second cup he drank that too. Intending to have drunk the second cup herself Virginia mentally rolled her eyes.

"So what questions have you got for me today?" Mr Stark asked, now surprisingly perked up by the coffee.

"Well, I've been looking at the directors' bonuses spreadsheet again and I think I've figured out the problem. The finance director has used some complicated formulae to arrive at the bonus figures and although all the other directors' bonuses are in line with their contracts, I don't think that his is."

Mr Stark opened up the spreadsheet on his computer and Virginia explained where she thought the formula was incorrect.

"So this means that his bonus is actually larger than it should be. I don't know if it's deliberate or not..." she tailed off, not sure whether Mr Stark was still listening.

Tony however was quickly checking the formulae himself and soon realised that Ms Potts was on to something. Clearly she wasn't just a pretty face. It looked like the finance director had been surreptitiously increasing his own bonus.

"The sneaky bastard," he muttered and aloud said, "Congratulations, Ms Potts. You've just found your first fraud of the audit."

"Well, we shouldn't jump to conclusions. It could just be a mistake."

"Trust me, Ms Potts. Gregory didn't make mistakes; this was definitely deliberate." Ms Potts still looked concerned so he added, "Don't worry, I'll get the lawyers to sue him for all he's worth."

"Yes, well, I'll leave that part to you, but you will need to adjust the accounts for it as it's material and it will mean we'll have to increase the amount of work we're doing as there's a risk he could have committed fraud elsewhere."

"Okay, how much more work?"

"Oh, only an extra day I would have thought and it will mainly be increased sample sizes, so that shouldn't affect the amount we need to bother you."

"Hey, have I been complaining about you bothering me?"

"No, you've actually been very accommodating, Mr Stark." Regretting the words as soon as they left her mouth, Virginia ignored his raised eyebrows and continued with the other questions she had to ask.

Given his hangover, Mr Stark's answers were even briefer than normal and it didn't take Virginia long to reach the end of her list.

"Can I go back to sleep now?" Mr Stark asked as Virginia gathered up her papers.

"Yes, but don't forget you have a meeting at 2pm," she replied, forgetting herself that Mr Stark didn't know she had details of his schedule.

"I have?"

"Yes, I got a copy of your schedule from the receptionist so I know when you're not going to be available."

"Sneaky."

"It was a perfectly legitimate request– " Virginia began, but Mr Stark chuckled and cut her off.

"Only teasing. What is the meeting?"

"It's with Marketing."

Mr Stark groaned.

"It's about the launch of the new RG19 missiles."

"Oh, that's not too bad, maybe I will go."

"Well, it's in your schedule, I think you probably should go."

"Ms Potts, do you honestly expect me to go to every meeting in my schedule? But anyway, I've got time for a nap first."

Mr Stark put his head back down on the desk and appeared to nod off directly. Taking that to indicate the end of the conversation Virginia returned to the audit room and reluctantly started planning the additional work they would need to do.

Happening to walk past Mr Stark's office later in the day she noticed through the open door that he was still asleep at his desk. Glancing at her watch she saw it was quarter past two and briefly considered waking Mr Stark up, however deciding that it wasn't really her problem, she carried on.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Ms Potts, just the person I wanted to see," said Mr Stark cheerfully the next morning as Virginia arrived with her invariable list of questions.<p>

"Really?" asked Virginia warily, not sure whether this was a good thing or not.

"Yes. I'm doing interviews for my new personal assistant this afternoon and I need your opinion. Which one do you think I should hire?" he said and held up pictures of two stunning blondes.

Virginia frowned, so Tony explained, "My personal assistant ran off with the finance director. I thought you knew that?"

"Well I do seem to remember you mentioning it in your very informative update on the company at the planning meeting," Virginia replied dryly.

"Yeah, well I dumped her and she ran off with Gregory on the rebound."

"Right," said Virginia, not entirely sure how she was supposed to respond to that.

"So which do you think I should hire?"

"You're asking me?"

Mr Stark nodded, holding the pictures out to her, but Virginia refused to look at them.

"Don't you need to have the interviews first before you decide? You can't just go by their pictures. And anyway, you shouldn't even be asking me as I'm your auditor and it threatens independence."

"I'm sure independence is overrated. Which reminds me, are we still on for our date tonight? Because you could come back to mine afterwards and then I could really threaten your independence," Mr Stark said lowering his voice suggestively.

Virginia suppressed a sigh. She should really stop handing him these opportunities on a plate.

"Yes, we are still on for the audit meal," she replied, emphasising the last two words. "Which reminds _me_, have you got that list of research and development projects ready for me?"

Mr Stark rummaged around on his desk for a moment and then brandished a piece of paper. "You didn't think I'd miss out on my chance for a date with you, did you?"

Ms Potts gave him a withering look and took the sheet of paper. "Where are we going tonight anyway?"

"Uh, The Orchard?" he said, naming the most expensive restaurant in Malibu.

"The Orchard? Isn't that a bit on the extravagant side?"

"Ms Potts, it's on me and I'm a billionaire. Nothing is extravagant."

"But, it'll be over our firm's hospitality limit and it will–"

"Threaten independence?" he guessed. "Okay, so you choose."

"What about Bella's?" Bella's was an Italian restaurant, still fairly upmarket, but well within Stradbroke & Co's hospitality limits.

"Okay. Meet you there at eight," Mr Stark agreed and returned to the circuitry he had been looking at when Ms Potts entered his office.

"Great, but I still have some other questions to ask you today, you know."

"If they don't involve integrated circuits I don't want to know."

"Tough."

* * *

><p>As Virginia and the rest of the audit team arrived at Bella's that evening they found Mr Stark already at the bar.<p>

"Hey, Ms Potts, what can I get you?" he asked.

"Hi, Mr Stark, um just a Coke please." Virginia replied, unable to keep the surprise at finding him there already out of her voice.

"Hey, don't sound so surprised; I've been looking forward to this all week."

Realising that Mr Stark was probably going to ignore the rest of the audit team unless she did something Virginia pointedly asked, "Zia, what would you like?" and remembering his manners Mr Stark finished the round.

Handing out their drinks he asked, "So not drinking tonight, Ms Potts?"

"No, I'm driving."

"Hmm, well you can always get a cab."

"No, thank you; it's a school night and I wouldn't want to drink too much at a work meal anyway."

Somewhat guiltily Mr Stark picked up what was actually his third Martini of the evening and led them over to sit down. Reaching the tables however, Virginia was dismayed to find that he appeared to have reserved a table for two and a table for three. Mr Stark held out a chair for her at the table for two, but refusing to go along with his whims Virginia got Jason to help her push the tables together, making one long one with three seats one side and two the other. Before Mr Stark could complain she sat Zia and Warren one side of the table and Jason in the middle on the other side leaving the chairs either side of him for herself and Mr Stark. Reluctantly Mr Stark sat down opposite Zia and Virginia took the other chair pleased with her neatly executed manoeuvre.

The waitress brought the menus round and Mr Stark soon started chatting politely with Zia as they decided what to order, but this only served to make Virginia more suspicious he had something else up his sleeve. Nonetheless the starters came and went with no incident and she chatted to Warren and Jason about their plans for the weekend whilst Zia quizzed Mr Stark about his recent interview with Rolling Stone magazine.

Yet Virginia was not wrong for no sooner had Warren got up to use the bathroom, than Mr Stark got up as well and grabbing Warren's chair sat down opposite her. Determined not to let him get to her she politely asked, "How was your starter, Mr Stark?"

"It was delicious, thank you. How was yours?"

"Great."

At this point Warren returned and Virginia indicated for him to sit down in Mr Stark's previous seat, rather than cause a fuss. An awkward silence threatened to descend at this point as Mr Stark was just staring at her with a barely concealed smirk on his face and she could feel the rest of the audit team were waiting for her to take the lead.

"So, um, have you had any weapons demonstrations recently?" she asked trying to get the conversation going, but wishing she could have come up with a more intelligent question.

"Come on, Ms Potts, let's not talk about business. What're you into?"

"Oh, running, um, reading, that sort of thing."

"So you do read romance novels in the bath."

Warren, Zia and Jason exchanged glances and hurriedly started up their own conversation leaving Virginia to deflect Mr Stark's less than subtle advances.

"Actually I read historical novels."

"But I bet they have lots of romance in them."

"Sometimes. Have you read any good books recently?"

"Uh, Designing Embedded Systems with PIC Microcontrollers."

"Oh wow, sounds interesting."

Tony looked at her slightly incredulously and decided to bring the subject back to what he wanted to talk about.

"So are you single?"

"Mr Stark, I understand you don't want to talk about business, but don't you think that's a bit personal?"

"No."

"Well, as a matter of fact I am single."

"Great, so how would you like to come back to my place afterwards? I could show you all my PIC microcontrollers."

Virginia glared at him.

"Or not."

Luckily at this point their main courses arrived, temporarily saving Virginia from trying to get the conversation going again and back to more innocuous topics. _When did audit meals become such hard work, _she wondered as she ground some pepper onto her tagliatelle. Suddenly she felt something brush up against her foot under the table and instinctively jumped back dropping the pepper mill. The mill hit the edge of her plate with a clunk and to her dismay the top came off and spilt pepper all over her meal.

"Do you like pasta with your pepper, Ms Potts?" Mr Stark asked innocently and too late she realised that he had just been trying his luck again by nudging her under the table.

Trying to prevent herself from going too red, Virginia began to scrape the pepper to the side of her plate, aware that all eyes were on her again.

"I'm sure the pasta underneath will still be fine," she said forcing a smile and trying to brush off the embarrassment.

"No, wait, you should have a new one," Mr Stark interrupted, reaching across the table to grab her plate, actually looking reasonably guilty now. He called the waitress over again and asked her to get another tagliatelle carbonara and to keep his plate warm whilst they waited. He encouraged the rest of the audit team to start eating and then turned back to Virginia.

"I'm sorry, Pepper– I mean, Ms Potts." Mr Stark looked contrite, but then a new idea sprang into his head and he said, "Hey, 'Pepper Potts', that kind of works."

"You're not the first to think of that you know," Virginia commented dryly.

"Why? Do you normally have that much pepper with your food?" Tony couldn't help smiling.

"Very funny, Mr Stark."

"No problem, Pepper."

Ms Potts gave him a challenging look but Tony said nothing and they settled to listening to the conversation on the other half of the table while they waited for their meals to reappear.

The rest of the evening passed without further incident and Tony forbore asking Ms Potts any more impertinent questions thinking he had probably pushed her more than enough already. Indeed he had never meant for the pepper incident to happen, he had only been trying to wind her up a little.

The meal followed its course and putting his wallet away after paying the bill, he asked sincerely, "Fancy heading to a bar now?"

"No thank you, Mr Stark," Virginia replied, not quite keeping the ice out of her voice. "As I said before, I don't drink at work meals."

"Okay," Tony replied reasonably. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow then. Have a safe trip home."

"Yes, thank you for the meal, Mr Stark."

The rest of the audit team took their leave and Tony turned back to the bar. He ordered another Martini and tried to drown the hollow feeling that suddenly threatened to engulf him.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! I'm afraid this is the penultimate chapter, but there will be a short epilogue as well.

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction and is not for profit. I don't own Tony, Pepper, or Stark Industries. I have also used a certain amount of artistic licence with regards to the audit.

**Chapter 6**

This time Virginia was armed and ready with three espressos as she arrived at Mr Stark's office the next morning. He didn't seem quite as prostrate as before but he still gratefully gulped down the first two coffees, reluctantly letting Virginia drink the third.

"Have a good night?" Virginia asked.

"How are you always this cheery in the mornings, Ms Potts?" Mr Stark groaned.

"Because I did not drink six Martinis last night," she replied matter-of-factly, getting her pen and list of questions ready.

"How do you know how many I drank? You weren't even there," Mr Stark countered petulantly, but before Virginia could begin asking her questions his gaze wandered to what was going on through the glass panel next to his office door and a horrified look came over his face.

"What is it?" asked Virginia, turning round to look herself, however seeing nothing unusual she turned back to Mr Stark who had now rushed up and was just about to disappear into his private bathroom.

"Get rid of her!" he urged and then closed the door.

Sighing, Virginia got up and was just wondering what all the fuss was about when there was knock on the door. Without waiting for an answer it opened and a vaguely familiar stunning blonde waltzed in.

"Oh, hi," she said, a little taken aback at seeing Virginia, but recovering her poise she asked if Mr Stark was around, adding "We had such a great time last night, I'm sure he'll want to see me again" with a rather patronising smile.

Starting to grasp the situation, Virginia mentally cursed Mr Stark for putting her in this position and cursed herself for allowing herself to be put in it and replied just as patronisingly, "I'm afraid he's not available right now."

"Oh, well, I'm sure he won't mind if I just sit here and wait for him," the blonde said and perched on the edge of a toolbox.

"Actually he's not going to be around at all today," Virginia said more firmly. "You'll have to come back another day."

"Well, who are you anyway? He hasn't given the job to you has he? He promised it to me!"

The pieces now fully clicking into place, Virginia responded loftily, "Actually I'm from external audit. I'll call you a cab and ask someone to escort you out," and picked up the phone before the girl could argue.

The next couple of minutes was spent smiling condescendingly at each other, until a burly security guy arrived at the door and the girl looked daggers at Virginia as she was marched away.

"Wow, that was impressive," declared Mr Stark as he sauntered out his bathroom after checking the coast was clear. "I think that must be a rec–"

"Mr Stark," Virginia cut him off, "I know you're a client, so I'm supposed to be nice to you." She began calmly, but then gave vent to her feelings, "But I cannot believe you just made me do that! It is against all the rules of professionalism and goodness knows how many laws of independence!"

"Come on, Pepper, it wasn't that bad. You were just doing me a favour."

"Don't call me that!" Virginia spat, "I have had enough of you flirting and playing around and preventing me from just getting on with my job!"

Mr Stark actually looked subdued at that and made no attempt to stop Ms Potts when she stormed out of his office.

* * *

><p>Back in the audit room Virginia busied herself with her work. She knew she would have to go back and speak to Mr Stark again, but, only feeling slightly guilty, decided to put it off for as long as she could.<p>

By lunch time she had had a chance to calm down and regain her composure and decided she really should go and apologise to Mr Stark. She still felt she was completely justified in what she had said, but yelling at the CEO of your audit client was not good practice and she did not want Stradbroke & Co's reputation to be damaged because of her.

Tentatively Virginia knocked on the door to Mr Stark's office and entered when he shouted to 'come in'.

"Ah, Ms Potts." Mr Stark had been rummaging in a tool box, but he now got up and walked over to her holding his hand up and looking relatively penitent. "I'm sorry for making you do that this morning. It wasn't fair."

"No, it's fine. Actually I was coming to apologise as well. I shouldn't have shouted at at you."

"Truce?" asked Mr Stark, holding out his hand.

"Truce," agreed Virginia, shaking it.

"Now, don't tell me you don't have some more questions for me today," said Mr Stark returning to his tool box, but looking up at her with a lopsided smile. "You know how much I look forward to it."

"Hmm," replied Virginia, but she couldn't quite hide a smile as she opened her notebook.

* * *

><p>The weekend came and went as fast as ever and before Virginia knew it they were into the second week of the audit. They had now settled into more of a routine and although Mr Stark continued to make inappropriate comments they seemed to have established some sort of line he was careful not to cross.<p>

"Hey, Pepper!"

"Please don't call me that; it's very unprofessional." Virginia requested as she walked into his office on Tuesday, but without much hope of being heeded.

"Trust me," replied Tony Stark, "I have never been known for my professionalism." He wiggled his eyebrows, but Ms Potts just rolled her eyes.

"I hope you went to the board meeting this morning," she prompted, "I'll need to see the minutes please."

"Board meeting?" Mr Stark looked distinctly blank.

"Yes, the one I reminded you about yesterday."

"Oh, that one. Whoops."

Virginia rolled her eyes again. "Just let me have the minutes when they're available please and don't forget you have dinner with the chairman tonight."

"Oh yeah, remind me again nearer the time. So any exciting questions for me today?"

"That depends if you call post balance sheet events exciting."

Mr Stark grimaced.

With some metaphorical prodding Virginia managed to get the answers she needed. Mr Stark still wasn't particularly effusive with his answers, but at least he'd stopped being deliberately unhelpful.

On reaching the end of their discussion Tony got up and started looking around for something in his office.

"Will that be all, Ms Potts?" he asked.

"That will be all, Mr Stark," she replied, turning round to add "for now anyway," as she left the room.

"Is that a promise or a threat?" Tony called after her with a grin.

Smiling despite herself Virginia supposed she should be pleased how well the rest of the audit was going. She still needed to stay out on site for an extra day due to the additional work resulting from the finance director's fraud, but Mr Knight had managed to provide them with much of the information they needed and the rest of the team had been progressing well with their work. And Miles had not bothered them too much whilst out on site which was always a good thing.

In fact by the time it came to the third Monday of the audit and Virginia's last day on site, she almost felt sorry to leave. Despite Mr Stark's incessant innuendoes and relentless teasing she felt she'd seen a side of him that wasn't usually portrayed in the press. It seemed that underneath all the bravado, and playboy antics aside, there did seem to be a genuinely nice guy. Yes, he'd made her life difficult to start with, but once they'd reached their truce Virginia had to admit she had begun to enjoy their conversations and banter.

Well, that would be a story to tell her grandkids one day, but for now there was still a lot of work to be done.

"So, Mr Stark," said Virginia, walking into Tony's office, "the final meeting is next Wednesday, but I'll email you draft accounts and audit report to look at beforehand. After they've been signed you will need to circulate them to the board-"

Virginia broke off as she noticed a distant look had come over Mr Stark's face.

"Are you listening to anything I'm saying?" she asked.

"I have just had the most amazing idea," he replied.

"Has this got anything to do with the audit?"

"_You _should be my new personal assistant," he stated, ignoring her question.

"Don't you think that's a bit of a step down from auditor?"

"Ms Potts, trust me, I will double, no, triple your current salary."

"Well, I'm sure there's lots of people who would do the job much better than me."

"I beg to differ. And I would like to point out that you haven't said no yet," Tony added. "Come on, Potts, you're great at organising me and telling me what to do. Everyone else is too scared or in awe of me."

"You think far too much of yourself."

"See. You'd be perfect."

"Well anyway, back to the audit," said Virginia, trying to steer the conversation back to what they were supposed to be talking about, not quite sure why she hadn't just given him a downright no.

"I'll put an offer in the post."

_Seriously? _But Virginia supposed by now she shouldn't be surprised. Once Tony Stark got an idea in his head there was no dissuading him from it. "I'll email you the details you need and ring you to remind you of the meetings."

"The more you say, Ms Potts, the more you prove you're the one for the job," Mr Stark taunted.

"And I'll get all the necessary letters sent out to you to sign."

Tony wrinkled his nose at that.

"Don't worry, I'll put sticky tabs on them to show you exactly where to sign," Virginia added. "Now I must get back to the office as I have a meeting, but I'll be in touch and I will probably see you around for next year's audit."

"Or when you start your new job."

"Goodbye, Mr Stark."

"Until our next meeting, Ms Potts."


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Well this is the last chapter apart from the epilogue, so thanks to everyone who's been reading and reviewing! I hope you've all enjoyed it. If you haven't left a review yet please do as I would love to know what you think! Merry Christmas for tomorrow!

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction and is not for profit. I don't own Tony, Pepper, or Stark Industries. I have also used a certain amount of artistic licence with regards to the audit.

**Chapter 7**

Back in the office after her meeting, an annual performance review with Miles which basically involved Virginia explaining how she'd met all her targets and Miles just agreeing with her to cover up the fact that he hadn't prepared for the meeting at all, Virginia busied herself tidying up and finishing off the Stark Industries audit file. Despite the fact that fieldwork was over, there was still a lot of completion tasks to do before the audit report could be signed. As a result it wasn't until she got home that night that Virginia thought any more about Mr Stark's offer. She knew that once he got an idea in his head he was very stubborn about it, but surely he couldn't be serious about this. Virginia tried to push the thought to the back of her mind and ran herself a bath to relax, pointedly choosing a romance novel to read from her bookshelf.

Yet clearly this was something Tony Stark was going to be stubborn about as the next evening Virginia opened her apartment door only to find a bulky letter in a large envelope with _Stark Industries _printed on it amongst her usual post of bills and adverts for cable television. Dumping her purse and other post on the cupboard in her hallway she opened it.

Inside was an offer of employment and a bundle of papers, presumably a contract, but the first thing that caught Virginia's attention was a post-it note stuck to the front of the letter.

_See, I wasn't joking. You can start on Monday._

_Tony Stark_

Her initial reaction of disbelief soon changed to curiosity and Virginia flipped through the documents to find the terms of the contract. Sure enough, under the heading 'remuneration' was a six figure sum and benefits ranging from company car to use of the Stark Industries on-site gym.

Virginia's head spun for a moment. He really wasn't joking, was he? She took her coat off and went and sat down in the living room to read the pack through properly. Most of it was just the standard wording you would expect in a contract of employment, but the job description was more interesting. She had expected it to just be the usual secretarial tasks you would expect a PA to do, but apparently Tony Stark's personal assistant also acted as his proxy at meetings when required and corresponded with the press. Maybe the job wasn't as far beneath her current role as she'd previously assumed.

There was also a last catch all duty listed on the job description of 'carrying out any other task required by Mr Stark' and Virginia had to smile as she could just picture him wiggling his eyebrows at her. But then she stopped herself and frowned. What was she doing? She couldn't actually be considering giving up her career as an accountant and becoming Tony Stark's personal assistant, could she? But Virginia had to admit that was exactly what she was doing.

She tried to tell herself that despite all her efforts she had just been taken in by his charm and that she should just politely decline the offer, but in her heart she knew that wasn't the case. She wasn't generally one to succumb to the charms of men and she had particularly guarded herself against Tony Stark. He _was_ very charming, but she'd made it pretty clear that it wasn't going to work with her and over the course of the audit they'd developed quite a friendly rapport. No, it wasn't his charm. More like a glimpse of the real man underneath.

She tried to tell herself that he would probably just get fed up of her before long and fire her and that would be her career over for good, but she still wasn't convinced and if anything it just made her want to rise to the challenge.

"Argh!" Virginia hit the bunch of papers against her forehead in frustration and then made herself get up and cook her dinner. Perhaps she would see it differently in the morning.

That night however Virginia dreamt that she had accepted Tony Stark's offer and was on her way to her first day working for him when she realised that she had not handed in her notice at Stradbroke & Co. How could she start working for Tony if she hadn't left her old job? Even if she handed in her notice now she couldn't start working for him for another eight weeks. What would she tell him when she arrived at the office? And in the meantime Mr Stradbroke would be wondering where she was...

Virginia was just starting to consider the logistics of working two jobs at once when she woke up with a flood of relief. But with that relief also came the remembrance that she was yet to make a decision, despite it now being evident what her subconscious thought she should do. At least all she needed to do today was tell Mr Stradbroke that she'd received the offer (more independence regulations) and she could give herself more time to think it over. But even speaking to Mr Stradbroke wasn't going to be that easy as Virginia suspected he would just expect her to dismiss the offer out of hand.

Realising there was no way she was going to get back to sleep, Virginia got up and headed in to the office early. Depositing her stuff at her desk she made herself a cup of coffee and tried to get stuck in to her work while she waited for Mr Stradbroke to arrive.

He turned up at about ten o'clock and Virginia let him sit down and take his coat off before going over to his office to speak to him, preferring to get the conversation out of the way as soon as possible.

"Morning, Virginia," Mr Stradbroke said as Virginia tapped on the open door before entering.

"'Morning, sir. How was golf yesterday?" Virginia replied.

"Good, good."

"Excellent," she paused, shutting the door behind her, "Sir, I have something I need to speak to you about."

"You're not pregnant are you?" Mr Stradbroke looked worried, "Although I probably shouldn't say that now with equal opportunities and everything."

Virginia smiled and shook her head. "No, I've received an offer of employment from Stark Industries."

"Oh, do they want you to be their new financial controller? I can't say I blame them. You would do an excellent job."

He smiled at her, but Virginia didn't return the expression.

"Tony Stark wants me to be his personal assistant."

"What? Really? Well I don't think we need worry about this, Virginia. You can just decline his offer and make a note on the audit file."

"I thought you might say that, but-"

"Virginia, you can't tell me you are actually considering accepting this offer? What about your career in accountancy? You could be a partner in less than ten years!"

"I know, but – I need to think about this."

"I thought you liked auditing!"

"I'm sorry, sir. I'll let you know soon." And she hastily left his office before he could question her further.

Virginia received several curious looks on the way back to her desk, but decided to ignore them to minimise gossip for the time being. She spent the rest of the morning clearing Miles's review points on the audit file, many of them ones he could have answered himself if he'd actually bothered to read the file properly, and trying to field Zia's less than subtle questions about what she had been talking to Mr Stradbroke about.

Sitting eating a salad in the kitchen at lunch time her thoughts returned Tony Stark and his offer again. She hated being indecisive and almost began to regret ever working on the audit, but then she stopped herself. There was no way she regretted it; she would do it all over again if she could, and it was in that moment that Virginia knew what her decision was.

Grabbing her phone before she could change her mind, Virginia ran outside to make the call.

"Hello, Stark Industries."

"Hi, can I speak to Tony Stark please?"

"Can I ask who's calling?"

"Virginia Potts."

"Oh yes, I've had a message to direct your call straight to his cell phone. I'll put you through."

Despite her nerves Virginia almost managed a laugh at the fact that he was expecting her to call and paced up and down, waiting to be put through.

"Hello. You have reached the cell phone of Tony Stark," began a voice in a crisp English accent and Virginia felt a rush of disappointment, but then she heard the familiar voice of Mr Stark himself.

"Hey, JARVIS, I'm right here! What are you going on answer phone for? Sorry, Ms Potts, he's still in the development stages."

"I'm sorry, who?" Virginia replied, confused.

"JARVIS. My AI. I'm still trying to work out a few bugs in his programming."

"Oh, right," she said, still not sure she fully understood.

"Well, have you rung to accept my offer then? Or are you just missing me already?" Virginia was sure he was smirking down the phone.

"As a matter of fact, I have called to accept your offer. I think it's time my career–"

"Great. Can you start on Monday? Because I'm sure I've missed about twenty meetings I was supposed to go to since you finished the audit, not that I'm complaining mind you; I hate meetings."

Virginia smiled. "Well, I'm afraid my current contract requires eight weeks notice, Mr Stark, so I won't be able to start working for you until November."

"Who cares? Let them sue Stark Industries."

"Seriously, Mr Stark. I have work I need to finish and it wouldn't be fair on my current boss. I promise you I will hand in my notice tomorrow and start work for you the day it ends."

Mr Stark sighed. "Okay, deal. And you can call me Tony now you know since you won't have to worry about independence and all that BS any more."

"Fine, but only once I've started working for you."

"Okay, well I'm sure you know what to do next with all the paper work and stuff."

"Yes, I'll see you in November, Mr Stark."

"See you later... Pepper."

Virginia rang off once she heard Tony hang up and let out a sigh. As much as she had decided this was the right thing to do, she was still slightly apprehensive about what she was letting herself in for. And she still had to tell everyone she had accepted the offer.

* * *

><p>Sitting at her PC after having cooked her dinner that night Virginia typed her letter of resignation. She felt a twinge of guilt as Mr Stradbroke had always been very supportive and the company had sponsored her through her training to be an accountant, but it wasn't enough to change her mind.<p>

Picking up the letter off the printer she reassured herself that if it all went horribly wrong there would probably still be someone who would take her on as an accountant again. But then she laughed to herself and put the letter in an envelope. If she had anything to do with it it wouldn't come to that.

* * *

><p>Not wanting to delay matters the next morning Virginia went straight to Mr Stradbroke's office to hand her notice in.<p>

"Good morning, Virginia. I hope that's not what I think it is."

"I'm afraid it is, sir."

Mr Stradbroke looked disappointed and asked, "Why are you doing this, Virginia? Do we not pay you enough? Although I'm sure not even Tony Stark's personal assistant can earn more than you're on now."

Virginia kept her face impassive, not wanting people to think she was doing it for the money.

"It's not because of who he is, is it? I thought you were too sensible to do something like that."

"No, it's not that. I just think this is the direction my career needs to take now."

"Well, if that's what you want to do I can't stop you, but isn't there anything I can do to change your mind?"

"No, I'm sorry, sir."

"Well, I'm sorry for it. And the accountancy profession is going to be worse off without you."

Virginia smiled and handed him the envelope.


	8. Epilogue

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction and is not for profit. I don't own Tony, Pepper, or Stark Industries.

**Epilogue**

_15 years later_

"So actually you should be thanking me that I slept with my personal assistant all those years ago, otherwise we never would have met."

Pepper whacked Tony lightly round the head with the bunch of papers she was carrying and he grinned at her.


End file.
